World Keeper

Chapter 982: Planting The Seed

Once Chel left, I met up with Tsubaki and the others again to begin to fill them in on what had happened. Of course this would happen right as we were launching our new game… Because of World Seed’s launch, I was now in a somewhat tricky predicament.

Oh, yes, there is an apocalyptic invasion on the horizon. By the way, the long awaited title World Seed has now been released! If I tried to release the information too soon with World Seed, it would only cause unprecedented chaos among the various worlds.

I knew that I was going to have to take advantage of the time acceleration in order to gradually share the news with the world. Just enough to help guide them towards the next step of preparations. “What do you wish to do, my Keeper?” Tsubaki asked in a serious tone, Dana and Lifre sharing her concerned expression on either side of her.

“Before the invasion, we have goals we need to complete. First, we need far more Fallen Gods at our disposal to fight the void beasts. Secondly, James and his team have to finish their new void generator. We’ll be needing it for the invasion, more than likely. Third, all of our planets have to connect with the Hyperlane Network. Finally, we need severely upgraded void barriers around each realm.”

Even with all of that, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to save everyone. This was someone who had been strong enough to worry a Keeper at the very peak of the Fourth Rank. I didn’t want to think about the number of casualties we’d have to face from this…

Tsubaki nodded her head, a look of contemplation on her face. “Regarding this matter, I have a suggestion, if my Keeper is willing to hear it.”

“Of course, Tsubaki. You know that your input is always welcome.” I nodded my head to reassure her, and her tails began swishing happily.

“Before the invasion, we can evacuate people to Fyor. Fyor has never struggled with void monsters due to the various layers of black stone. Despite how many cling to its surface in the void, the effects can’t be felt within the world itself.”

My eyes widened at that, and I quickly nodded my head. “Yes, that’s right. Though… I don’t know. Fyor has so much space, it can easily accommodate all of the residents of our primary worlds. Even Lorek and Spica could comfortably move their entire populations over to rest in the higher floors.”

“However, the others… like the Network of the Metong, the March’s empire… Even if Fyor has so much space, it can’t fit two galactic empires.” Tsubaki’s suggestion was truly a good one. However, there were still gaps. For instance, the apocalypse could destroy all life left in the worlds that had been evacuated, crippling future production.

Tsubaki pursed her lips, then nodded her head. “In that case, I suggest that my Keeper at least move Olympus to Fyor before the battle. No matter how much damage the rest of the world suffers, there is still the possibility of recovery so long as my Keeper remains alive. It may seem cruel, but nothing can be allowed to happen to you personally.”

My eyes widened at Tsubaki’s suggestion. It was logical, but still, it was hard to imagine Tsubaki suggesting that I run away from a fight. As I was thinking that, Dana sent me a brief, mental explanation. We found something in the Meeting previously. It let Tsubaki become a Keeper herself until she hit the First Rank, and I became her System Companion.

I let out a long sigh when I heard Dana’s words. Ahh… I see, thanks. Tsubaki had always been protective of me, but it hadn’t been to such a great extent that she was unwilling to let me fight at all. From what Dana said, she must have learned from her own time as Keeper, and gained a new level of understanding for what it meant.

“Tsubaki… I can’t just sit the invasion out. An invasion of this scale is meant to target someone of my strength. If I don’t participate, there may not be a world left to save.” I spoke to her in a gentle tone, but Tsubaki shook her head.

“As long as my Keeper evacuates a large enough population to Fyor, we can rebuild after the invasion.”

I gave a somewhat bitter smile at that. “And what if the apocalyptic void monsters invade Fyor, using things like the Fairy Rings? You can’t possibly expect me to destroy those and trap everyone on Fyor, can you?”

Tsubaki’s eyes widened, and she bit her lip softly. Seeing that, I continued. “I will move Olympus to Fyor, but I will also participate in the battle in the void. That way, I won’t be caught in the initial wave of destruction. This is the best that I can promise you.”

Tsubaki clenched her fists, before letting out a long breath and nodding her head. Her eyes came up to focus on my own. “Very well, my Keeper. However, until such time as the invasion, I will continue to strengthen myself, to ensure that I can fight alongside you.”

“That’s what your Legend’s all about, isn’t it?” I asked her with a knowing smile. “My life is in your hands, Tsuabki. I trust you to guard it well.”

Tsubaki gave a firm nod at that, a faint hint of a smile returning to her. At the same time, Lifre jumped over. “Okay, now that that’s all out of the way, let’s get started with World Seed!” I blinked, looking over at Lifre.

“Now’s… not really the time, is it?” I asked, feeling a slightly awkward atmosphere. However, Lifre merely smirked at me.

“Now’s the only time for it! All of those preparations that you talked about, how many of them can you actually do right now? You’ve got to release the game anyways, right?! Or what, are you going to wait however many years it takes to get everything ready, and then only start the game after it’s already old news?”

I hesitated at Lifre’s rebuttal, not really able to find the words for it. This time, it was her turn to press her advantage. “You can’t do any of your preparations right now. The only thing that you can do to help yourself is try to have a bit of fun to take your mind off of things. Besides, you could get a super awesome seed from the game, and that could turn the tide of battle in the future, right? Right?”

Tsubaki’s head shot up at that, her eyes wide in realization. “That’s correct… items from the game may be brought out into the real world. If a sufficiently powerful Elemental Seed is discovered, it can be retrieved. So far, the only such seeds in existence are the imitations made by Lady Aurivy.”

“About that… I’m actually curious to know what will happen.” Dana suddenly spoke up, causing the others to look over at her. “Well, think about it. The Elemental Seed system is supposed to be its own type of magic with its own rules. However, the ones Aurivy made are just a modification to Elemental Magic. Clearly, they operate under different rules, and were just the closest representation that Aurivy could make.”

“Now, assuming that Dale hasn’t purchased the Elemental Seed system for the other worlds, that means that the Digital Conversion system will try to translate it to a suitable item following the same logic as when it sends a magic card into Fragments of Acidia.”

“That’s… a very good point.” I nodded my head at her words, now curious myself as to what that would create. “Will it make the same type of seeds as Aurivy, or something entirely new?”

“In my opinion, I think it will create a new type of magical artifact capable of replicating the effects of the seed, as opposed to one that only enhances an Elemental Mage.” Dana spoke up with confidence. “That’s my expectation, based on my various tests with the Digital Conversion system.”

“Right… Either way, we’ll need to get started on the game to find out. Once we get in and find one, we’ll be able to test it out.” As I said that, I took a deep breath, descending back to Olympus. Ashley had already uploaded the server information of World Seed, so it was ready to be accessed at any time. All that was needed was the distribution of the software to connect to it.

I sent a message to Ashley to announce the release of the game, and then one to Chiho to make sure that the game was fully ready. Finally, I sent a message to Gerard to update him on everything that was happening while I went with Tsubaki and the others towards the game room of Olympus.

Speaking of which, the Sylvans are an all female race… please tell me that Ashley set up both genders for the game. I suddenly felt a pang of dread as I slipped the visor over my eyes. We could have logged in with our Virtual Selves, but they were in the middle of a mission to deliver high level materials to a neighboring empire, so it was best to do so with our real selves.

To my surprise, there was no character creation period. When I logged into World Seed, the only option I had was which world I wanted to spawn in, as well as whether or not I wanted to do the tutorial. I asked Chiho to put us all on the same world, one that wouldn’t immediately be flooded with new players when the game went live.

There was a flash of light, and I found myself standing beneath a bright sky, atop a grassy plains. Looking down, I was relieved to find myself looking like a male equivalent to the Sylvan species. I had golden, plant-like skin, leafy vestment, and I could feel my long, elven ears. As I was confirming my own appearance, several other flashes appeared alongside me.

Looking over, I saw multiple female Sylvans appearing, though it was impossible to immediately identify all of them just by their faces, given the race change. There were… five shorter girls, and four taller ones. Those numbers did not seem to quite match up with the amount I was expecting.

“Okay, everyone… roll call.” I spoke up, and the players all began to introduce themselves. The five shorter girls were Lifre and Dana, who I expected, but also Aurivy, Sienna, and Clara. The four taller ones were Tsubaki, Julia, Ryone, and Leowynn. I looked curiously at Ryone and Leowynn, only for Ryone to give me a knowing smile.

“It takes ten to establish a tree, right? Or were you planning on abusing admin power for it?” She had a point… I hadn’t honestly thought about that. As for Aurivy and Julia, their reason for being here was obvious.

“Should we set up the tree here, then?” Aurivy asked impatiently, grinning practically from ear to ear. “The spawn point will automatically change once the tree’s been established, so other players won’t just appear here, even when they do start showing up on this planet.”

I gave a small nod, and the ten of us all linked hands. Setting up the tree was rather easy, but also slow. Although, the process was not nearly as long as a real ancestor tree. Normally, having a tree fully grown  would take a year, at which point the green Sylvans will appear together with the first golden. Instead, the growth of the tree this time would take twenty-four hours.

“Do we need to have someone remain behind to guard the tree while we go explore?” Clara asked curiously, though Dana shook her head.

“Even if they stayed behind, it wouldn’t do much. Better to move on our own and find a seed, so we can start developing our powers.” Aurivy said with a shake of her head. At the same time, I had a thoughtful expression.

“If Admin Commands are used to grant a seed, would that seed still be able to be taken out with Digital Conversion?” I thought aloud, Aurivy looking at me with a somewhat disappointed gaze.

“Technically, yes, but that’s no fun!” She pouted at that, causing me to chuckle.

“I only want it so that I can test the Digital Conversion system, not to use for myself.” That said, if I didn’t find a good seed before the invasion, I would most certainly choose to grant myself one through the admin controls.

Aurivy blinked, having apparently had the same thought as Dana when it came to that system. “Okay… but we’ve got to get rid of the in-game seed afterwards! Those are the rules that… I just made up!”